Attendees at Monday’s Swedish Sportsmen of the Year ceremony paid an emotional tribute to former soccer coach Sven-Göran Eriksson, who recently announced he has pancreatic cancer and a year to live at most.
At the gala, Eriksson presented the award to the best coach, who became Johannes Lukas, the German coach of Swedish biathletes.
The organizers prepared a video clip for Eriksson, in which former English representatives John Terry and Wayne Rooney, among others, sent him warm words.
Celebrities in the hall gave the legendary coach a standing ovation, many of them struggling with emotion.
Eriksson was also moved. “You bring me to tears,” he said after wiping his eyes with a handkerchief.
Seventy-five-year-old Eriksson led IFK Gothenburg, Lazio Rome, Benfica Lisbon to league titles and also coached AS Rome and Manchester City.
In 2001, he became the first foreign coach of the English national team, which he led until 2006.
Last February, he withdrew from public life for health reasons and announced less than two weeks ago that his illness could not be cured.
Pole vaulter Armand Duplantis and swimmer Sarah Sjöström received the award for the best Swedish athletes for last year.
The public chose the cross-country skier Ebba Andersson, who received the prestigious Jerring Prize.
Duplantis improved the world record twice last season. The Swedish phenomenon jumped 622 centimeters indoors and added another centimeter at the end of the outdoor season at the Diamond League finals in Eugene in September. He also confirmed his dominance at the World Championships in Budapest.
Thirty-year-old swimmer Sjöström added two more world titles to her rich collection, winning the 50-meter freestyle and butterfly races in Fukuoka.
Skier Andersson shone at the World Championships in Oberstdorf. She dominated the skiathlon and the 30-kilometer race with a mass start, and won bronze in the decathlon and with the relay.
2024-01-23 13:53:59
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